Alon Eizenman named to U.S. college Hall-of-Fame

Alon Eizenman, a former centre for the Penn State Nittany Lions, has been named to the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Hall of Fame.

Eizenman will be inducted into the Hall at a ceremony on April 28 in Naples, Fla.

News of the induction came “completely out of the blue,” Eizenman said. He was informed of the honour by his former coach – and fellow hall member – Joe Battista. “I was completely unprepared,” Eizenman said. “It’s really nice. I’m the third player inducted.

Eizenman played for Penn State from 1997 to 2001 and guided the team to four consecutive ACHA men’s Division 1 national championship games, winning in 1998, 2000 and 2001. He was named the ACHA men’s Division 1 player of the year in 2000 to go along with the Bob Johnson Award, given to the player who best demonstrated hockey ability, achievement, leadership, sportsmanship, as well as academic excellence and community service.

A four time ACHA men’s Division 1 All-American, he was also an Academic All-American and was twice named most valuable player in the men’s Division 1 national championships.

The ACHA is a U.S. college league that differs from the NCAA in that it doesn’t offer scholarships. Observers consider top ACHA teams more or less the same calibre as NCAA Division III teams.

Alon, along with his brothers Erez and Oren, represented Israel internationally. He helped lead the Israeli team to a gold medal in an IIHF Group D tournament in 2000 and to another gold in Division II action in 2005.

Eizenman attended the Pittsburgh Penguins training camp and played two seasons of professional hockey in France. He averaged more than a point per game with A.S.G. Tours and led the team to the Magnus Cup finals in 2005.

After being called to the bar in Ontario, he joined the law firm of Stikeman Elliott, where he specializes in municipal and planning law.

He still plays recreational hockey a couple of time a week. The most competitive games he plays now come during the Christmas season. He’s been a part of the Israeli Stars of David in the Canadian Multicultural Hockey Championship, a tournament the Stars of David have won three of the last four times.

Looking back on his career, he said that “the single biggest and most important memory for me was when I scored the overtime goal to win the national championship in my junior year, 1999-2000. If I have one memory from all my playing days, that’s the one. Everyone who plays hockey dreams of scoring the winning goal in a championship.”